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AHEAD OF THIS afternoon’s motion of confidence in the Government, opposition TDs raised their grievances with how the fuel protest was handled on the plinth of Leinster House.
All were in agreement that the Government’s handling of the protests has been disastrous, but there are splits along party lines in relation to the appropriateness of blockades and to the appropriateness of the half a billion euro package announced by the Government.
The confidence motion has been put forward by Sinn Féin after a week of widespread disruption caused by the fuel protests.
It is being backed by all of the Opposition parties in Dáil Éireann.
Speaking on the plinth today, Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty said the Government took an approach of “insulting” and “demeaning” the people who took part in the fuel protests.
He said Sinn Féin would be voting against the half a billion euro package being introduced by the Government later tonight because it does not go “far enough”.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party’s Ged Nash said the package is one to “placate” farmers, hauliers and contractors, but does “nothing” for PAYE workers.
He said “the real supports people need in this country is assistance with their energy bills”.
He was also highly critical of Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan’s handling of the protest and his threat to call in the army.
Nash said the minister acted like “Rambo” and that the Labour Party now refer to him as “Jimbo” for his heavy-handed response.
John Rambo was a character portrayed by action star Sylvester Stallone in a series of movies from the early 1980s – the name has often been deployed to describe someone who acts in a ‘lone wolf’ manner and uses violence or the threat of violence to resolve situations.
This was an insult repeated in the Dáil during the confidence debate by Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan, who also likened O’Callaghan to “Rambo” and called him “G.I Jim” for his decision to call in the army.
Independent Ireland TD Richard O’Donoghue said he is “broken” after the events of last week.
He recounted how he “couldn’t stop the tears” when he stood side-by-side with the protesters last week and they sang the song “Sean South from Garryowen”.
“Every person that was there stood straight with the water flowing down their faces, because they’re broken people,” he said, adding that many of the protesters were Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael voters who feel let down by the Government.
He (and every other political party on the plinth today) strongly criticised Media Minister Patrick O’Donovan for his threat to have a review of media coverage of the protests.
“I thank the media, even though the ministers inside at the moment are giving out, but you followed both sides of the story,” O’Donoghue said.
Aontú leader Peadar Toibín directly appeals to the Independent TDs supporting Goverment to back today’s motion of no confidence.
— TheJournal Politics (@TJ_Politics) April 14, 2026
Naming Barry Heneghan, Gillian O’Toole and Michael and Danny Healy Rae, Toibín says they have a “moral responsibility” to vote no confidence. pic.twitter.com/Z4v22rl0Ir
Social Democrats TD Sineád Gibney said the Media Minister’s intervention was an attempt to deflect from “the incompetence of this government to deal with these protests and the cost of living crisis.”
Both the Social Democrats and the Green Party said the protests showed the need for Ireland to wean itself off fossil fuels. Both parties called for a massive roll out of solar panels for Irish homes.
Meanwhile, People Before Profit said the lesson from last week is that “people power works”.
Party leader Richard Boyd Barrett said the left needs to now mobilise protests for other issues impacting ordinary workers.
Speaking to reporters before Cabinet this morning, Tánaiste Simon Harris said it is “important to be humble and be listening in a Government”.
Asked about the Dáil vote, Harris said: “Look, opposition will do what they do – they have an important job in a democracy.
“But I would just point out that we have brought forward now a package of measures that’s larger than the package of measures that was proposed by the main opposition party (Sinn Féin).”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin meanwhile told reporters he was looking forward to debates on the Government’s response to the fuel crisis.
“We’ve responded more substantively than most Governments across Europe,” said Martin, adding that the government will continue to keep the broader economic situation “under review”.
Asked what learnings he had from the last week, Harris said: “The level of pain that people are feeling in this country is real, it is acute.”
“And we can have different views than we do in terms of how best to express that and I never think blocking critical infrastructure is a good thing to do.”
He added that protesters cannot make their point “to the detriment of someone else’s wellbeing” and that while he believes in the rights of protest, he had “significant concerns around the blocking of oil refineries”.
“Nobody in this country has the right to make themselves a self-appointed warden. No one in this country has the right to decide whether you or I can move freely,” the Tánaiste said.
The Taoiseach meanwhile remarked that the approach of the blockaders, which limited oil refining, did not make sense.
He said ministers “accept fully” the rights to protest and freedom of assembly, but that there is always a balance to strike.
Since the start of US/Israel war on Iran, global fuel prices have spiked and some hauliers and farmers have claimed rising costs could cause them to go out of business.
Last week, a number of slow-moving convoys of tractors, lorries, and coaches set out from across the country causing widespread gridlock.
Demonstrators blockaded a number of ports, the country’s only oil refinery and Dublin city centre.
This played havoc with fuel distribution, and hundreds of forecourts ran dry of petrol and diesel.
Government ministers refused to engage with the protesters and instead held talks with established representative bodies in the transport and agricultural sectors.
As the protests continued, the army was called in and, on Saturday, gardaí began clearing the blockades.
On Sunday, the Government announced a €505 million package of measures to tackle the high cost of fuel.
It comes on top of €250 million worth of measures announced almost three weeks ago.
The new measures include further reductions of duty on fuel, a delay in a carbon tax increase and support schemes for the haulage, transport, fishing and agriculture industries.
Speaking to RTÉ News yesterday, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said her party was bringing the motion because the Government is “utterly disconnected, utterly incompetent” and “aggravated and escalated the level of protest”.
She said cuts of €100 million a month to excise duty were needed, and a cut of 25 cents a litre for diesel.
It is unclear how a small number of independents who have supported the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition government will vote.
The Government will table a counter-vote of confidence in response to the Sinn Féin motion.
With reporting from Press Association.
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